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[00:00.41] We're talking about the Volkswagen scandal.

[00:03.33] Yes, well, let's go back to the beginning.

[00:05.19] How did it all start?

[00:06.78] Well, Richard, if you think about it, German products, they have a good reputation, don't they?

[00:11.56] Especially for engineering, yes.

[00:13.42] And I think the motor car industry represents the best of all of that.

[00:17.94] Yes, they're reliable, well-designed, efficient, highly engineered. Who doesn't want to own a BMW?

[00:26.97] Or a Mercedes.

[00:29.63] But in terms of being environmentally friendly, diesel cars have a poor reputation, particularly in the US, where very few are sold.

[00:38.39] So, yes, so when VW said that it had designed cars with a new clean diesel technology that surpassed the strict US regulations, it filled a huge hole in the market.

[00:52.20] Yes, so there are fewer fumes, Richard, toxic fumes.

[00:56.45] It's mainly... Nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, things like that.

[01:01.77] OK, but retaining better fuel efficiency and excellent performance.

[01:07.61] I mean, VW was on to a winner, wasn't it?

[01:10.00] Sales were soaring.

[01:11.86] And, of course, their US advert said, Diesel – it's no longer a dirty word.

[01:18.24] So, step in John German, a worker for a small, independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to helping reduce vehicle emissions.

[01:27.80] Yes, he was asked by his European colleague to check the emissions of two diesel VWs because they wanted to carry out on-the-road testing in the US.

[01:41.61] So, he took two VW cars and a BMW also for a drive with a probe placed in the exhaust pipe so they could test the vehicle emissions.

[01:55.42] Yeah, and a portable emission measurement system. And he found out that the VWs massively exceeded the official emissions.

[02:06.05] Remembering that we have two German cars here and their reputation for reliability, he thought there was a technical error with his measurement system.

[02:23.58] So, he did the tests again, he expanded the tests, and this time the cars were driven more than 1,200 miles from San Diego to Seattle.

[02:27.30] So, what he found was that the VWs, they still exceeded the US standards by up to 35 times.

[02:35.80] Although the BMW itself was fine.

[02:38.72] Was absolutely fine. So, to cut a long story short, we now know that VW had installed a defeat device software that gave inaccurate measurements when the cars were being tested.

[02:54.12] But only when they were tested in laboratory conditions, not when they were out on the road.

[03:00.50] Yeah, somehow the car knows it's being tested, maybe because the steering wheel isn't being turned, or maybe because the outside temperature doesn't change.

[03:08.47] But once on the road, however, the software doesn't kick in and the true emissions could be detected.

[03:14.84] Yeah, so it means for the last two years, there have been far more harmful emissions coming out of these VW cars in America than before.

[03:23.61] So, VW faces huge fines for breaking the Clear Air Act, plus fines of up to over $37,000 per vehicle in the US.

[03:34.76] So, is this the end of VW, Richard?